USA > Illinois > Cook County > Album of genealogy and biograghy, Cook County, Illinois, 10th ed. > Part 26
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Mr. Spalding has been an active worker in the interests of the Republican party from its incep- tion, because he believed the weal of the Nation depended upon the success of the principles main- tained by that party. He was a personal friend of Grant, Arthur and Conkling, as well as other now prominent National leaders, and gave coun- sel in many grave exigencies. He presided at the unveiling of the Grant monument in Lincoln Park. In 1881 he was appointed by President Arthur Collector of the Port of Chicago, and filled that office in a manner most acceptable to the Government and the people of the city. With him a public office is a trust, to be executed with the same faithful care which one bestows on his own private affairs; and when he was appointed Director of the Union Pacific Railroad on behalf of the Government by President Harrison, he inade a personal investigation of the property in his own painstaking way, submitting the report to the Secretary of the Interior. This report, which
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gave a careful review of the resources of the country traversed by the line, and its future pros- pects, was ordered printed by Congress, and con- manded careful attention from financiers and those concerned in the relations of the Pacific roads to the Government. It was also embraced in the annual report of the Board of Directors of the Union Pacific Railway Company.
Mr. Spalding was associated with William B. Ogden and others in the project for cutting a canal from Sturgeon Bay to Green Bay, by which the danger of navigating "Death's Door" (as the entrance to Green Bay is known) could be avoid- ed, as well as saving a distance of about one hun-
dred and fifty miles on each round trip between Chicago and Green Bay ports. This was com- pleted in 1882 by the Sturgeon Bay & Lake Michigan Ship Canal and Harbor Company, of which Mr. Ogden was the first President, suc- ceeded on his death by Mr. Spalding. During the first year of its operations, 745, 128 tons of freight passed through the canal, and in 1892 the business amounted to 875,533 tons. In 1891 4,500 vessels (trips) passed through, and the next year the number was 5,312. Congress hav- ing passed an act to purchase the canal and make it free to all navigators, it was turned over to the United States Government in 1893.
HON. SAMUEL P. McCONNELL.
ON. SAMUEL PARSONS MCCONNELL was born in Springfield, Illinois, July 5, 1849. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Parsons) McConnell, still reside at Springfield. James McConnell, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came from County Down, Ireland, about 1810, and engaged in the manufacture of gunpowder in New Jersey. He afterward re- moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, where he became an extensive farmer and wool-grower. He was one of the first to cultivate the prairie soil of Illinois, demonstrating its fertility and general advantages to his neighbors. He amassed considerable property, and died in 1867.
John McConnell was born in Madison County, New York, but went with his parents to Illinois in his youth. When the United States became involved in civil strife, he recruited a company of soldiers, and entered the military service as a Captain, rising by promotion to the rank of Gen- eral. Since the close of the war he has been en- gaged in the insurance business in Springfield. Mrs. Elizabeth McConnell was born in Connecti-
cut, and is descended from English emigrants who located there about the middle of the seventeenth century. Her grandfather, John Parsons, was a Captain in the Continental army.
Samuel P. McConnell was educated at the Springfield High School and Lombard University at Galesburg, Illinois, graduating from the latter institution in 1871, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He read law with the firm of Stewart, Edwards & Brown, of Springfield, and was ad- mitted to the Bar in 1873. In December of the same year, he came to Chicago, where he has since been a prominent member of the Bar, and has occupied an honorable position upon the Bench.
In 1889 he was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge McAllister, and, upon the expiration of the term in 1891, he was re-elected. In 1894 he resigned this office, and resumed his private practice. He was led to take this step by the inadequacy of the salary paid a Circuit Judge. It is much to be regretted that almost any man
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fitted to grace and honor the Bench is able to earn several times the salary of a Judge in private practice.
Among the most prominent cases tried before Judge McConnell may be mentioned the first Cronin trial, the case of Ross versus . White, the Chicago City Railway Company versus Springer, and the receivership of the J. H. Walker Com- pany, in which property to the amount of five millions of dollars was involved. His impartial and equitable decisions earned him the respect of attorneys, jurors and litigants, and his departure from the Bench was widely regretted.
In 1876 he was married to Miss Sarahı Rogers, daughter of Judge John G. Rogers, of whom ex- tended mention is made on other pages of this volume. Judge and Mrs. McConnell are the par- ents of three children, named, respectively, Julia, James and Eleanor.
From youth Judge McConnell has been a Dem- ocrat, departing from the precepts and example of his father. He has never been a candidate for
any other office than that of Judge, though re- peatedly importuned by party managers to be- come a political leader. Among the social and fraternal associations into which he has naturally been drawn, may be mentioned the Iroquois, Lit- erary and Waubansee Clubs. While President of the first-named organization, he took a decided position on the silver question, which was antag- onistic to that of many members, and he felt it incumbent upon him to resign, but this act aroused such a strong protest in the club, that he was induced to withdraw his resignation.
He presided over the city convention which se- lected delegates to the State Democratic Confer- ence, held at Springfield in June, 1895, to deter- mine the attitude of the party on the silver issue. He was made Permanent Chairman of this con- ference, which wholly sustained his views upon the question at issue. In this, as in all other matters affecting public policy, he has been actu- ated by a desire to promote the general welfare, and without wish to occupy office.
REV. MINER RAYMOND, D. D., LL.D.
EV. MINER RAYMOND, D.D., LL.D., the oldest college professor in the Methodist denomination, both in respect to age and length of service, and one of the oldest teachers of theology now living, is a resident of Evanston, and until a short time since was active in edu- cational work, in which he had been engaged for more than sixty years. He is a native of New York City, and was born on the 29th of August, 18II. His father was Nobles Raymond, and the genealogist of this family has traced its descent from Raimonde, Count of Toulouse, France, and demonstrated that, on account of its espousal of the Huguenot faith, its members were expa- triated, and some fled to Essex, England, wlience
the emigration to America occurred. The Ray- monds became settlers in New England, and now a host of this name, many of them prominent in commercial and educational affairs, trace their descent to the two or three who came to the colonies in very early times.
Nobles Raymond married Hannah Wood, and they became the parents of nine children, of whom Miner was the eldest. Soon after his birth his father removed with his family to the village of Rensselaerville, New York, and there the boy, when of school age, began to receive the rudi- ments of his education, remaining in school un- til twelve years of age. At that time his services were required in his father's shop, and he spent
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the following six years in learning the art of making shoes, in which he became so proficient that his handiwork was second to that of no other workman in style or finish. The same rule of doing well whatever he did was as rigidly ad- hered to when he was a mechanic as it has been since he has held a position in the forefront of educators.
The event in his youth most far-reaching in its results on character and fortune was his conver- sion and union, at the age of seventeen years, with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he was to be so conspicuous and honored. His father and mother were faithful adherents of that creed. For more than twenty years they were the only permanent residents of Rensselaerville who were connected with that church, and their house was ever a home for Methodist ministers. The account of the great revival at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, kindled in Miner Raymond a de- sire for knowledge; it was the turning-point in a great life, starting him on a new course and bringing him into intimate and helpful relations with an educational institution. Through the efforts of the Presiding Elder of the district in which he resided, he began his advanced educa- tion in the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, then the only Methodist institution of learning of any magnitude on this continent, of which only three or four were then in existence. Like many another student, he added to his limited means by the labor of his hands; and the proceeds of his work on the bench, mending the boots and shoes of his fellow-students, helped to meet the expenses incident to his education. But this did not continue long. It was soon discovered that he was endowed with the gift of teaching, and he was made assistant teacher, a position which he held for three years, while still a student in the academy. His especial faculty for elucidating the principles of arithmetic, which were then very imperfectly treated in the textbooks, led to his selection as teacher of a class of teachers, and this was the starting point of his long career as an educator.
Graduating in 1831, he was immediately made a member of the faculty, and taught in that in-
stitution with marked success for ten years. I11 1833 his name appears in the catalogue as usher, and it was then he began his remarkable peda- gogic labors. In 1834 he was advanced to the charge of the English department, where he labored with great success and growing popu- larity for four years. During this period he had been a diligent student and had delved deep into the mysteries of ancient languages, the natural, niental and moral sciences, and the higher inathe- matics, for which he discovered a taste and apti- tude. When the degrees were conferred by the Wesleyan University upon the students he had taught at the academy, he received, in recogni- tion of his high ability and efficient services, the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In 1838 he was promoted to the chair of mathematics, which he filled with distinction for the three years he remained as a teacher in the institution.
While yet engaged in teaching, Professor Ray- mond joined the New England Conference, in 1838, and three years later entered upon pastoral work. He served two years at Worcester, Massa- chusetts, four years at Church and Bennett Street Churches, Boston, and in 1847 went to Westfield, where he remained one year.
Upon the resignation of Robert Allyn as Prin- cipal of the Wesleyan Academy, Professor Ray- mond was requested by the trustees to take the position at the head of that institution. The pastorate was the ideal life work to which he was attached and for which he had educated himself, but, after mature consideration, he decided to put aside preference, and accept what he considered a call of duty, and entered upon the work with a devotion and energy that left a very deep impres- sion upon the school at the head of which lie stood.
The first two or three years of Dr. Raymond at Wilbraham were tentative and preparatory. New buildings were necessary to the success of the school, and how to get them was a problem, the solution of which demanded his full strength; but he met the difficulties and conquered where most men would have failed. In spite of debt and other obstacles, he succeeded in erecting Fisk Hall, in 1851. In the two years following
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the number of pupils greatly increased, and in the year 1853 rose to over six hundred, nearly double the attendance of previous years. Througli the efforts of Dr. Raymond, Binney Hall was built, in 1854. The principal building of the institution, including its dormitory and board- ing apartments, was destroyed by fire two years later. Nothing daunted by this calamity, he set about obtaining the means to rebuild it in still nobler proportions, and that same year suc- ceeded in completing a structure costing fifty thousand dollars. By the act of an incendiary, in 1857, this structure was also destroyed, but Dr. Raymond and a few brave aids rose superior to the discouragements that had beset them, ob- tained money by popular subscription, aroused the friends of education throughout the state, and, by petition and strong personal influence, secured legislative aid, by which means a third building, more commodious, more beautiful and more cost- ly than its predecessors, rose upon the site of their ruins, and to-day is the chief ornament of this seat of learning, a monument to the faith and indomitable courage of Dr. Raymond.
In 1864 he was elected to the chair of system- atic theology in Garrett Biblical Institute, Evans- ton, Illinois, and resigned his position at the liead of the academy, which he left enjoying a higli degree of prosperity. Coming to Evanston, he entered upon a work which his long experience as a teacher, ripe scholarship, and devotion to his profession have made eminently successful and gratifying in its results. For thirty-one years he filled a position in which he was eminently useful as a teacher, and during three years of that time was also pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Churchi in Evanston. Soon after en- tering the institute, lie became convinced that he was spending one-third of his time in telling the students what the meaning of the theological authors was. Then came the determination to write out his lectures and make the expression as plain as possible, so that theology miglit be clearly taught and readily understood. In due time appeared his "Systematic Theology," in three volumes, intended for students preparing for the Methodist ministry, which has proved to
be a very popular book. One distinguished authority is quoted as saying: " It is the strong- est defense of Arminianism we have seen." Be- sides liis pastoral work, Dr. Raymond has helped to direct the work of the church in its national councils. Six times he was elected as a delegate to the General Conferences, as follows: Pitts- burgh, in 1848; Boston, in 1852; Indianapolis, in 1856; Buffalo, in 1860; Philadelphia, in: 1864; and Brooklyn, in 1868.
Dr. Raymond was married, August 20, 1837, to Elizabetlı Henderson, of Webster, Massachu- setts, who died September 19, 1877. Five chil- dren were born of this union, all of whom are now living. Mary is the widow of Philip B. Shumway, the builder of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad, and now resides in Evanston. William is in the employ of that railroad. Samuel B. is a prominent citizen and prosperous sugar broker in Chicago. James H. is a well-known and successful patent lawyer in Chicago. Freder- ick D. is Secretary and Treasurer of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company.
On July 28, 1879, Dr. Raymond was united in marriage with Isabella (nee Hill), widow of Rev. Amos Binney. Dr. Raymond's domestic life has been a pleasant one; his house has been the dwell- ing-place of peace and happiness. His exemp- tion from illness up to the past winter, and the contentment of his mind, have conspired to pre- serve his physical vigor, which is evidenced by the full head of hair, now of flowing whiteness, and the clear, bright eye which lends vivacity to lis countenance.
Rev. David Sherman, D. D., author of the " History of the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbra- ham," has thus written of Dr. Raymond:
" His first essays in teaching reveal the born schoolmaster, destined to advance to the fore- front. No one who attended his classes can ever forget his clear and forcible instructions. The principles involved in the study were seized upon and traced onward through intricate problems as in lines of light. No one could fail to see or to be carried with the demonstration. But his superiority as a teacher was not simply in the ex- tent and accuracy of his knowledge, or even in
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his ability to make truth visible; it was rather in that higher ability to develop the student and to create in him the capacity to investigate and master truth. It was not simply the amount of knowledge he communicated, it was the way he impressed himself upon other minds coming un- der his instruction. The man, even more than the pedagogue, was behind his utterances."
The same writer, in speaking of him as a preacher, says:
"With him religion was the main considera- tion, and his convictions on the subject were deep and strongly expressed. He spoke with the demonstration of the spirit and power. If his prayers and exhortations were thoughtful and intellectual, they were, at the same time, intense
and fervid, enlisting the emotions of the heart as well as the accurate formulations of the brain. * *
* Though gifted with large capacity for astute and accurate thought, he was gladly heard by the people, because his logic usually came to a white heat. To the religious people of Wilbraham he was for a quarter of a century the oracle. No other principal, certainly after Dr. Fisk, obtained so firm and enduring a hold upon the people as Miner Raymond."
What was said in those days may be repeated with emphasis concerning his labors in later years, when in the enjoyment of his full intel- lectual strength and the knowledge and experi- ence gained in more than half a century of con- tinuous mental activity.
JAMES McMAHON.
AMES McMAHON. Few people in Evan- ston are as well known, or regarded with as much sincere respect and admiration, as the subject of this notice and his excellent wife. During their residence of over thirty years in Cook County, they have been almost constantly identified with charitable and philanthropic en- terprises, and have won the friendship of both rich and poor to an unusual degree.
Mr. McMahon was born at Belfast, Ireland, June 4, 1813. He is a son of Alexander Mc- Mahon and Mary Ann Douglass, both of whom were of the stanch Scotch-Irish blood which has ever been active in promoting the best interests of mankind. Alexander McMahon was the de- scendant of a family which had been for many generations engaged in the linen trade. Two of his brothers were extensive merchants at Belfast, Ireland, and amassed a fortune there. Alexander turned his attention to agriculture, and in 1819 came to America. After living for a time near
Watertown, New York, he removed to a farm near Kingston, Canada, upon which he resided for fifty years, departing this life in 1883, at the age of ninety-three years. He was the father of fourteen children, of whom James was the eldest. He was an honorable and thrifty business man, and accu- mulated a competence, in the enjoyment of which his later years were spent. He and his wife were devout Presbyterians. The latter died at King- ston, several years later than her husband.
James McMahon enjoyed excellent educational advantages, pursuing courses of study success- ively at Andover Academy; Cheshire Academy, at Cheshire, Connecticut; and Washington (now Trinity) College, at Hartford, Connecticut. His parents designed to fit him for the Presbyterian ministry, but, while a student at Washington College, he became converted to the Episcopal faith, and abandoned his theological studies, to their great disappointment. While a young man, he spent considerable time in travel, visiting Eu-
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rope three times, and becoming quite familiar with the ways of the world and its business methods. In 1849, in company with a party of young men of his acquaintance, he went to Cali- fornia, by way of the Isthmus. He remained three years in that state, during which time he mined successively at Hangtown, American Val- ley and Big Bar, and also recovered his health, which had become considerably impaired before his departure from the East. At the last-named mines he gained a rich reward for his labors, and thence returned to the East, again making the voyage by way of the Isthmus, a regular line of steamers having been established since he first made the journey.
He landed at New Orleans, thence went to Dal- las County, Alabama, where he purchased an ex- tensive cotton plantation with a retinue of slaves, and had just established a profitable business when the Civil War broke out. On account of his political views, he found it impracticable to re- main there, and in 1860 lie was obliged to abandon his property and remove to the North. He located in Chicago, where he became asso- ciated with the insurance agency of Thomas B. Bryan, and continued to carry on that line of business for a number of years, representing the Mutual Life, the Mutual Benefit and the Equit- able Life Insurance Companies. His business ventures were fairly successful, and he had accu- mulated considerable property when the great fire of 1871 visited the city. Most of what he saved from that disaster was swept away by the panic of 1873. At the latter date he moved to Evans- ton, and for a few years conducted a restaurant in Davis Street. Since 1882 he has filled the of- fice of Township Supervisor, being re-elected each season without opposition. In addition to his official duties, he acts as a purchasing agent for Evanston merchants, making regular trips to Chicago in their interests.
He is a thirty-second-degree Mason, and is held in the highest regard by his brethren of that order, from whom he has received many testimo- nials. He first joined Oriental Lodge, and is now identified with Evans Lodge, Evanston Chapter, Evanston Commandery and Oriental
Consistory, his duties as Tyler of these several bodies taking up considerable of his time.
Mr. McMahon was married, in 1865, to Martha Cornelia Converse, daughter of Samuel Augustus and Anna (Easton) Converse, of Stafford, Con- necticut. Mr. Converse, who was a descendant of the French Huguenots who located in America during the Colonial period, died in Connecticut, at the extreme old age of ninety-three years. He was an influential citizen of Stafford, and a pen- sioner of the War of 1812. Mrs. McMahon came to Chicago in 1860, and was associated with Mrs. Mary A. Livermore in conducting the great San- itary Fair. Mr. McMahon was also one of the promoters of this undertaking, and sold thousands of tickets in its support. Though not blessed with children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Mahon have adopted and partially reared several children, one daughter, Harriet Wilmina, having been a member of the family from infancy. She was first married to Professor W. W. Graves, an instructor in the Northwestern University, and since his death has become the wife of Edwin O'Malley, of Chicago. Jennie, another adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. McMahon, is now Mrs. Cameron, of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
When he first located in Chicago Mr. McMahon resided on the South Side, near the home of Stephen A. Douglas, who became his intimate friend. He helped to organize St. Mark's Church, on Cottage Grove Avenue, and was for some years one of its most active and influential mem- bers. He served four years as Superintendent of Trinity Mission, and he and his wife have been communicants of St. Mark's Church of Evanston since removing to that city. Previous to the Great Rebellion, he was a Democrat, but since coming to Chicago has been a consistent Repub- lican. He is a life member of the Masonic Vet- erans' Association of Chicago, and during the war acted as agent for the numerous Masonic charities of the city of Chicago, securing relief and transportation for many indigent members of the order belonging to the Union army. The retrospection of his long and useful life may well afford comfort and satisfaction in his declining years.
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JONATHAN CLARK
(From Photo, by W. J. ROOT)
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JONATHAN CLARK.
JONATHAN CLARK.
ONATHAN CLARK, prominent among Chi- cago contractors and builders, was born at West Walton, in the county of Norfolk, Eng- land, May 28, 1828. His parents were William and Christina Clark, and his father died when Jonathan, the eldest of four children, was only seven years old. At the age of eight he was put to work herding sheep on the Norfolk commons and keeping the birds off the fields of grain, for which he received two shillings (fifty cents) per week. He went out to service on a farm at twelve years of age. His earnings during the last year of service he saved to pay his way to America. Previous to that time he had contributed his wages to the support of his widowed mother and his younger brothers.
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